CARLSBAD: Attorney pleads guilty to embezzlement charges

An embattled Carlsbad attorney who is temporarily barred from
practicing law in California pleaded guilty to embezzling money
from clients and unauthorized practice of law during a hearing
Tuesday at the Vista Courthouse.

Patricia Ann Gregory pleaded guilty to one count of felony
embezzlement, one count of misdemeanor embezzlement, and a count of
practicing law or holding herself out to be a licensed attorney
while not eligible to practice law.

The San Diego County district attorney's office agreed to reduce
the charges from
11 felony counts
, including embezzlement and grand theft, in
exchange for Gregory's guilty plea.

Gregory faces up to three years in state prison and a fine of up
to $10,000, deputy district attorney Sherry M. Thompson said after
the hearing. She may also be ordered to pay restitution to her
victims. A judge will determine Gregory's punishment at a
sentencing hearing Feb. 24.

Gregory has not been arrested, and she will remain free until
her sentencing hearing as long as she obeys the court's orders not
to advertise her legal services or hold herself out as an
attorney.

Luwain Ng and Denise Doll, the two former clients Gregory
pleaded guilty to victimizing, said Tuesday that they felt relieved
to be nearing the end of their four-year-long battle to bring
Gregory to justice.

"It's a sigh of relief just to hear her say, 'I'm guilty, your
honor,'" Ng said. "This has been four years," she added, tears
welling in her eyes.

Gregory was accused of embezzling more than $100,000 from client
trust accounts she was sworn to protect, according to the complaint
the San Diego County district attorney's office filed in Superior
Court on Oct. 26. The alleged thefts happened in 2007 and 2008,
according to the complaint.

She was also accused of unlawfully advertising herself as a
practicing lawyer after the State Bar of California declared her
ineligible to practice law on March 19.

The State Bar temporarily banned Gregory from practicing law
pending the outcome of a hearing to address allegations of
professional misconduct involving her clients' trust accounts,
Diane Curtis, a spokeswoman for the State Bar, said Friday.

Gregory was first admitted to the State Bar of California in
2003, according to the State Bar's website.

The State Bar's Office of the Chief Trial Counsel sought in the
hearing to disbar Gregory because of serious misconduct. The office
accuses her of inappropriately accessing funds from Ng and Doll and
then lying about the status of the accounts.

Ng and Doll will be eligible to apply for restitution from the
State Bar, which reimburses clients for losses that are the result
of dishonest conduct by attorneys, Thompson said.

Ng said she will seek additional damages in civil court, where a
lawsuit she filed against Gregory on Aug. 3, 2010, is pending.
Court officials were using the case file on Tuesday, and it was not
available for public viewing, a clerk at the Vista Courthouse
said.

James A. Bush, the San Diego attorney who is representing Ng in
civil court, said Tuesday that he expected Gregory's guilty plea to
expedite the civil litigation. He said people who plead guilty to
criminal allegations can't contest the same allegations of
wrongdoing in civil court.